


Gargalesthesia

by emily_420



Series: verbum suggerit [3]
Category: Gintama
Genre: 3z, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4921228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emily_420/pseuds/emily_420
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gargalesthesia: the sensation caused by tickling. (Mutsu is herself, and Matako, being herself, thinks too much.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gargalesthesia

One of the many things Matako admires about Mutsu is how understated she is. Everything about Matako is brash and overt; her appearance, the way she talks, the things she chooses to say, everything right down to her personality is bold. It’s not that she resents being that way – why should she, it’s just the way she is and if someone’s got a problem they can shove it – but seeing Mutsu’s calm, collected way of being from her position makes her appear all the more attractive.

Mutsu doesn’t shout so much as raise her voice; she smiles but never grins. Matako has heard her snort and give those tiny barely-there breathy chuckles, but she never laughs loudly.

She can’t help but wonder if there’s ever a time when Mutsu slips out of that reserved air, if it’s something she puts on or if it’s just the way she is. Matako herself is aware of the duality of her personality; she acts quite differently around people she has a crush on, but even then she’s forthright and honest.

(She should have known that she was only ever attracted to people like herself – people who are unapologetically themselves.)

+

It’s a Friday night and Matako has somehow managed to get invited over to Mutsu’s place after school. Though Mutsu has been to her house a number of times, she’d never yet set foot there; Mutsu told her that her parents were both gone for the night and Matako suspects that’s the only reason she’s allowed to be there. She asks if Mutsu’s embarrassed by them and she says no, not really, rolls a shoulder, and Matako almost believes her until she sees the pictures of a younger Mutsu on a wall.

“You used to dress like this?!”

She’s incredulous, even more so when Mutsu looks a little red as she says, “It was a phase.”

+

They play video games while sitting on the floor and complaining, which is maybe not exactly what Matako expected but it’s nice a comfortable and this isn’t their first date, anyway. So it’s okay.

It’s even more okay when they take a break and Mutsu lets Matako untie her hair and run her fingers through it.

“The bob was cute,” Matako says, fanning Mutsu’s hair out across the back of her rumpled school uniform, admiring the look of it. “Why did you decide to grow it?”

“I didn’t want to be cute anymore,” Mutsu says quite plainly, and Matako can imagine it, wanting to be taken seriously. She deals with a decent amount of that herself, though if she can’t make people respect her, at the very least she can make them fear her. Mutsu doesn’t seem to go for that even though it works.

“Is that why you never laugh a lot, Mutsu-sempai?” Matako hazards. “You want people to think you’re serious?”

“Sempai, sempai, what’s with you,” Mutsu says under her breath. “We’re in the same grade, you know.”

“Mutsu-sempai,” Matako reiterates, a bit annoyed, and drops her hands from her girlfriend’s hair to her sides.

Whatever reaction Matako was hoping for, it doesn’t come; Mutsu turns to her, eyebrows raised, and says, “The heck are you doing?”

And then she frowns, twists around further, and goes for Matako’s own sides.

Squirming and breathless underneath her, Matako thinks, it’s fine this way. Mutsu is really just Mutsu, and Matako loves her for it. 


End file.
